The Reel Rejects - THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2002) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

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Starting point is 00:01:19 world right now uh anyways count of monte cristo commence Wow. Whoa. Not bad, man. Well done. Yes. By the way, if you are listening to us on Apple or Spotify, if you don't mind using that sword to slash a rating,

Starting point is 00:01:41 we would so appreciate us. If you want to look as cool as John, myself, or any of us here on Reject Nation. It's like these. Rejectnation shop.com. Yes. Right. But John, what did you think of the Count of Monte Cristo?

Starting point is 00:01:57 Oh, man. this was this was very compelling I mean I don't know what the reception was of this at the time I don't either but yeah I got really into this and it's been a long time since we've seen or it feels like a long time we were watching Napoleon actually just recently and that certainly had big

Starting point is 00:02:13 production values but it's been a while since I've seen a movie like this that does feel like you are this is based on history and it's based on a novel and you know it feels literary and it feels yeah like it has all that umph of you know the way period pieces used to be produced i feel like back in you know

Starting point is 00:02:35 this is the early 2000s and and before you know when we didn't have quite so many means with cg i and stuff like that i feel like just there was a different timbre to how all this stuff gets realized and yeah just the locations and the costuming and the way they let you live in the moments and in the anguish and in the world you know and and the way that the way that they spin, you know, the, the initial, you know, relationships and the initial transgressions and then the suffering and then the ultimate sort of return and, you know, the exacting of the revenge. Like, there's so many different flavors and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:03:13 And, yeah, this just felt so tangible in so many ways. And again, we are in like the early 2000s where, you know, I feel like that is kind of a, I don't know, every decade has its interesting turning points for how cinema is made and realized. But yeah, this certainly felt like it could be a bit timeless in, you know, the pantheon of these kinds of stories. So I was quite enthralled. What did you think? No, I really enjoyed it. The first like 10, 15 minutes, it took me a little bit just to get used to. I thought it was very frenetically paced. And I was just like, again, just trying to get used to what I was why, you know, in terms of like with the characters and the storyline, I was just trying to get an

Starting point is 00:03:53 understanding what was going on. But then once I got into it and I was going to, and I was going a full understanding what was going on. I really enjoyed this like you. I thought the production value phenomenal. I really like made me feel like I was there, you know, living vicariously through these characters in this time period piece. And I love that. But yeah, I know this was a fascinating and riveting tale. And I just thought, you know, it was very grounded to just, I mean, even at this time too. And as well as back then with, you know, again, I don't like Guy Pearce his character in any way he and by the way fantastic performance by Guy Pear's like you

Starting point is 00:04:32 despise and hate his character as hot buns catering did the craft services yes great job hot puns but I mean you you know he did his job as an actor you were supposed to despise and hate his character but it's understandable I'm not I'm not defending but it's understandable why his character is so jealous with you know Jim Cavizal's what was his Edmund with Edmund's character

Starting point is 00:04:57 you know first you had that whole scene with the note so there the distrust starts then he's got the woman that he desires but you know what's interesting too as we find out later on in the film that regardless even if any of that didn't happen with like you know he didn't betray him in terms of take his woman and all that he was still going to be a miserable piece of crap well yeah he can't accept yeah it's like he comes from nothing is good enough for him no and he's incapable it seems of truly earn his own status and thus he always feels that chasm of I guess personal failure like it's that thing he says it's like you know you're you're no more noble than I am a commoner but but really that's his insecurity speaking there it's like he wants to be the one entrusted with some kind of special mission he wants to be the one with status he wants to be the one looked on with reverence and and he's you know drunk and philandering all the time because he's just unable to create this life he's so desires. Yeah. And it's fascinating. Like the two of them as characters and the contrast between

Starting point is 00:06:01 who they are as people and then what status or lack thereof does to them is is pretty fascinating. Yeah. No. And also for him, the ends always justify the means. Um, yeah. And again, at the beginning, too, I was like, I thought we were just going to do like the whole buddy cop kind of thing in terms of like, not obviously I don't mean like actual. I just mean like two friends kind of things. But I mean, I thought we were going to go on some kind of an adventure with. them. I didn't read the plot details or anything. Yeah, I knew almost nothing. Yeah, I knew I knew nothing. I just knew Kevin Reynolds was the director. That's all I knew. Um, but having said that, again, I thought that's where we're going to go. Having said that, I'm, I think the,

Starting point is 00:06:39 the story was, uh, like I said, more riveting the way it ended up going. And I got to tell you to, too, I really loved, uh, Jim Cavizel's performance. Had the transformation. I really bought it, too, from, uh, you know, uh, an uneducated man who was, uh, uh, very naive, and also was in love, and then, you know, got the ultimate punishment for doing nothing, essentially. Yeah. And then I think the most important scenes in the film were with him and Richard Harris. I loved all those.

Starting point is 00:07:13 And God, rest in peace, seriously. Richard Harris, you were the brightest, sweetest soul, at least on film. I didn't know you, obviously, personally. But my point being is I loved all those scenes and the way he mentored him and educated him. taught him how to fight, you know, swords playing all that. Those were such impactful scenes for obviously the rest of the film. And also just taught him, you know, lessons that would, you know, about just getting his faith back in line, like later on in the film. It was just, he built an arc around for him later on in the film.

Starting point is 00:07:44 And I just appreciated everything he did for him and just, you know, what they did for each other. I just thought there was such beautiful and impactful scenes that resonated throughout the rest of the film for his character. And also, too, it just, again, employed a very revenge and punishment act in terms of, you know, how he came about with coming up with this conniving, awesome plan to come up with what he did to Guy Pearson, whatever the other, that actor is the prosecutor or whatever. Yeah, I love the plan he came up with those two. And again, without Richard Harris's help, well, first of all, I wouldn't have escaped. That's number one. But, I mean, wouldn't have had the education to come up with something as awesome as that. So I just, I love those scenes.

Starting point is 00:08:30 And I love the chemistry between him. And I cannot remember the character's name that he was in love with, Jim Caviz's character. Mercedes. Yes, he should have thought of a car. I can't, I love their chemistry. I was instantly hooked on those, those two as well. But I really love the chemistry and the interactions between Richard Harris and Jim Cavendez. They were so good together and really got that, even though, you know, Jim Caviesel did have a father when he got into prison there, like kind of a surrogate father.

Starting point is 00:09:03 And again, it didn't feel like anything ripping off, but I definitely did get that vibe, too, of, you know, Mask of Zorro. And in a good way, it reminded me in a good way of Masked for. Did that come out around the same time? 1998, so four years before this. Okay. You know, where, you know, he was in print, Antonio Manderas, his character of Diego de la Vega was imprisoned by Rafael. And Raphael raised his daughter and he had to come back for revenge. There were very similarities.

Starting point is 00:09:30 So please don't get at me in the comments say this is nothing like that. Like, come on, there's some similarities. And again, I'm not saying rip off or anything. I just, I enjoyed that. And I mean, they're borrowing from different areas of history too that are probably not too far apart in terms of, yeah, context or whatever else. Yeah, I just said it reminded me of it. I didn't say it ripped off. So, but I enjoyed it.

Starting point is 00:09:50 And again, my favorite moments on top of all the. revenge plot and just how smart and intellectual he became and you know all that um there were a couple things that were a little bit predictable but i didn't care because i was so into it at that point but uh the parts i loved the most were in the prison with uh seeing also the pain that he could endure uh and his mental stability like that was tough to watch but also the scenes with richard harris i i love that so much oh yeah yeah i i loved richard harris's presence it's it's one of those fascinating. I feel like you could probably make a list of great performances that are just in like that stretch of a movie or in the kind of center point. And yeah, some kind of mentor figure

Starting point is 00:10:31 comes in. Yeah, I really liked their relationship and the presence that he brought like a ray of warmth and benevolence to the movie that I think it definitely needed. And it gives you just as much as it does give the character of Edmond, you know, some type of hope or some kind of inkling that there's still goodness left in the world if this guy, you know, is still here digging and is still here, you know, keeping his knowledge alive. Like, what can I do? And I like, too, that, yeah, like, you know, he certainly inspires, he plants the seed for him to eventually be able to move on from this, even though he encourages him not to go down the revenge path. Of course. And even though Um, um, um, yacopo is there, uh, later on even to be like, look, you've got everything you could

Starting point is 00:11:21 ever want. Like, just drop this and go live your life. And, you know, it, it's a bit of a, of it, it, the, the, what am I trying to say here? It's like he doesn't immediately take the advice of Richard Harris's character and, you know, and yeah, forgive and, you know, go and often live, you know, in freedom. Like, he definitely still, I think you referenced the punisher, but I do feel like there is that. that element of like, yes, his revenge story definitely plays itself out, but part of what that revenge is is trying to bring some level of justice like, you know, Villefort is finally revealed and imprisoned for his treachery. And yeah, it's that whole thing of you're going to suffer as I have suffered. And that guy, you know, arguably deserves it. And to have him out of

Starting point is 00:12:08 circulation in out of positions where he can make a difference in real people's lives and in the lives of and in the the trajectory of the country and everything like you know that's probably for the better and then yeah he's about to let him go and i think that's that's how it is it's like you know he has the showdown with guy pierce he's about to let him ride off he makes the decision no no no no we got to have this duel i have to win it's something i have to earn something or i have to you know this has to be the way that i die basically i got to say with vilfort is that he say his name uh yeah something like that i got to tell you you guys that might have been one of the coolest like reveals of like someone like yeah just like uh what's

Starting point is 00:12:52 the word i'm trying to say here like just um giving themselves away in terms of like uh saying that they did side like yeah did a crime that they uh one of the best coers confessions confessions thank you that was one of the best confession reveals i've ever seen like how he that when he pulled off then they were all in the mist there that was all that was awesome i was not expecting I was like, I just thought he was going to take his own. I thought he was going to, you know, take his life. Sure. Do something like that, but I was not expecting that.

Starting point is 00:13:23 I, like, those are the moments I love, like, stuff that's not predictable and, like, I'm not expecting. And, like, that was great. Yeah. And that borders on being more of, like, of a movie moment just because it is, like, kind of cool and they're hiding in the steam and whatever else. Okay. Yeah, you're right. But, no, very satisfying, though, and very distinct and striking. You're like, and how do they sit there the whole time in their?

Starting point is 00:13:44 that get up in those in those uh they must have just been right outside the doors right because yeah he tries to leave and and the doors are locked but uh but yeah i don't know just the journey that we go on and the fact that it convincingly at least to me in this first watching experience you know it felt like we really did traverse all these years and we have been through like multiple phases of life and when he has that reunion with mercedes in that one scene where it's just the two of them in his estate in the chateau. And, you know, he says, like, don't take my anger for me. You know, don't, don't, you know, bring me your tenderness and try and explain me the truth

Starting point is 00:14:25 that is going to soften me to my resolve, you know. And that's not even a huge debate, but it is something that, yeah, I thought was a nice nuance to include there. Yeah, you know, it's interesting when Edmund got sent off to a prison for life. essentially Mercedes basically got sent off to a prison with Guy Pearce I mean she was stuck for life with this evil awful dude

Starting point is 00:14:48 and it's the story of a bunch of figurative prisons yeah and again like you said understandably so and again not defending her but she was she was about to have a child fatherless so it's and also she was in a very vulnerable

Starting point is 00:15:04 position I mean she could be defended I mean like you know what are you going to do like you're pretty you don't maybe I understand where she was coming from is all I'm saying. Of course you do. Like, you have to understand where she's coming from. Like, it's a betrayal on a personal level to be like, oh, yeah. Like, how did you wind up so quickly with my best friend?

Starting point is 00:15:21 But it's also like, yeah, I've got a kid coming. They told me you were dead. You know, what else are we going to do? And this guy's being, has always been endearing and compassion and kind to me until we got married, of course. And he comes from means, which, you know, obviously we need. Right, right. I'm going to raise this kid.

Starting point is 00:15:38 Of course. And I got to imagine that in this point in time, she probably didn't have the greatest say in terms of her own life trajectory. So, like, I understand his reading of the situation of, like, not even a month later, you just went off and married him. But I also, yeah, can absolutely sympathize with the, you know, no-win scenario that she's left with. And again, when he was angry, I love that long he threw it or because that's probably something I would say, too. Like, it's okay, you won't, you'll forget about me again in a month or something like. Yeah, I forgot what that was something. like that yeah but again uh also too the uh we talked a little bit about the production design was

Starting point is 00:16:15 phenomenal for the most part i loved the cinematography like there were some shots when they were trying to escape the prison like you could see uh they were like i don't even know how to describe it but it was like you know with richard harrison him where they were digging through the hole in the uh underground um but anyways how they did it was really uh interesting and i love some of those uh the way again the way it was framed and shot i liked how they ramped up up the frames per seconds in certain shots specifically when there were you know hand-to-hand combat fights

Starting point is 00:16:45 my only again this is just personally me if you enjoyed it totally cool for the most part I did enjoy the hand-to-hand combats they were great I just would have liked even more so wide shots further away I think those is where I can see the best

Starting point is 00:17:01 I don't personally like it when you get too far up and close on too much of the fight having said that for the most part the hand-to-hand were good, I just prefer to stay more wide and far away, but that's just me. You want to appreciate the choreography. I can kind of see it either way here, because on the

Starting point is 00:17:17 one hand, yeah, like, I do appreciate a wider sort of like, let's drink in the dance that is the fight. In this situation, I feel like there's a good amount that's very much like a sword fighting, especially like with a rapier or whatever, is like pretty personal anyway and is about sort of

Starting point is 00:17:33 like the reading and all that stuff. So I get why they would want to keep it a bit more personal and a bit more in the face, but I also where you're coming from. Agree with me, John. And if this was more intended to be like more of an action movie in particular, than I might be more upset about that. But, but yeah, I like the way that this, I don't know, yeah,

Starting point is 00:17:52 just kind of let you live in those themes. And I love the stuff with Louise Guzman. He was great. Like, there is that quality where there's enough coincidence or there's enough of that. He says that thing about like God's always watching out of the corner of his eye, watching you. And it's like, yeah, he meets Richard Harris. Harris has the line to the fortune to the treasure you know and that's something that could have

Starting point is 00:18:14 easily not have ever happened so there's like a certain amount of peripheral magic or he yeah gets out and he makes this escape somehow and he washes up and he finds these pirates here and then he's that could be the end of him but then you know I was just about to say sorry I was just about to say that's again how much I appreciate Richard Harris's character and how much he meant to Jim Coveesel's character to Edmund or the priest to Edmund, like, in that moment with those pirates, like, right there, I was like, I didn't know where we were going to go with that, but, like, again, he's always thinking 10 steps ahead and, like, because he educated him that way, you know what I mean?

Starting point is 00:18:49 And, like, when, uh, Louis, Luis Guzman, uh, yeah, so when he had him there, like, he's like, okay, uh, I have this plan. I've already formulated it. And it's like, I love intelligent characters like that. Like, that was brilliant and smart. And that, and he used the. Yeah, sorry, sorry. No, you can feel how that comes from the both of them, you know, because he's had certain experience with the kind of life that he needs to go back and ingratiate himself to in order to carry out his ruse and revenge and all that. But, yeah, it's like Richard Harris was there to teach him all the things he would inevitably need to know.

Starting point is 00:19:21 He didn't know how to read at the beginning. And now he knows about ostensibly about economics. He knows literature. He knows, you know, at least, yeah, the main sort of functions of education he has now, you know, got. And then he finds the trade. It's like, yeah, there are a number of interesting happenstances, I guess I'll say, that lead him to this point just as much as his focus and intent upon his revenge. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:19:49 And I got to say, too, I mentioned how I enjoyed that confession reveal so much with the mist in the steam room. I really love that scene, too, with him and Richard Harris, where they were discovering why he was sent to the prison. Yeah. That was such, again, such a well-crafted, such well-crafted. such well-executed, such great acting in that scene that when you figure it out, it's like, damn, I hate that he's in here for that, but damn, that scene was so well-acted. I loved the execution of that scene by both these actors. They're so damn good together.

Starting point is 00:20:17 Also, two, one last thing before I let John finish off here, and then I'll get to some trivia. There was one scene in there in terms, because we were talking about the action with the hand-to-hand combat. I do want to give some praise on the guns firing, too, where they were trying to fire when Edmund was trying to escape the first time he was arrested, there was a gun that was fired at him and you could see the bullet ricocheting into the wall. Like, I appreciate it. Someone was there with a spark ball. Yeah, but still, I love Little Dee because you could see how close it was to hitting him. I'm like, damn, I love, I love shit like that. That's awesome.

Starting point is 00:20:54 Like, it shows like impactfully as an eye. It's like, oh my God, he was so close to losing his life right there. Like, um, but do you got anything, uh, you'd like that before I get to? some of the trivia. Just, yeah, I just, I missed the tradition of films like this and not to say that we never make them, but, but yeah, it's been a while, I feel like just in older eras of cinema

Starting point is 00:21:14 in prior decades, you know, you would have more films that have this kind of sweeping grandeur. And, uh, and yeah, I just, I really felt the, you know, environments and, you know, you really felt steeped into the world. So yeah, hats off to the production values. Hats off to the cast.

Starting point is 00:21:30 Oh, I really like the main triangle. Really quick, what's his name, Villafort? Yeah. He was in Tron Legacy. Okay. He was Jarvis in that? Sure. Oh, he's the guy, I remember.

Starting point is 00:21:45 He's like bald in that movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He cracked me up as I remember. Yeah, was he the one who agrees with that? He's that, yeah, he's like Clues yes man or whatever. Yes, okay. Now I do remember. And he's also in The Tudors.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Wait, is the Tudors? Is that Henry? No, that's not Henry Cavill. Oh, it is Henry Cavill. He's in, apparently he's in the Tudors as well. Okay, all right. So, hey, he's like, hey, he'll work with Henry Cavill. But, yeah, I really like, I thought he was great, and I thought the trio, the main trio, performed quite nicely.

Starting point is 00:22:16 I mean, obviously, I think Jim Cavizel has the most flavors to traverse across the movie, because he's the lead. Yes. But I really like the actress who played Mercedes. She's great. I thought Guy Pearce did a lot with a thankless kind of role. Definitely a scoundrel, definitely a hateable character. yes um yeah and and enough i mean i guess you could have done a little more enough in the early scenes to be like okay like there's a tragedy here these two are friends and i can see easily how

Starting point is 00:22:42 it's going to go the way that it goes but there's still that little sliver of like oh damn i wish it didn't have to go that way yeah and the whole like you know we start out where we have that stuff with napoleon and the letter and like early on i thought so much was going to have to do with that and that's only the catalyst to get things going and it's so much not to do with that afterwards. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, just the journey of this revenge story and the psychology, you know, the character has to confront over time. Like there's a lot of satisfying stuff in here, but there's also. And we got a Henry Cavill in this too. And we got a young Henry Cavill. And I thought that he was good. Yeah, I thought he was good. And I liked the sort of back and forth

Starting point is 00:23:20 in terms of his use as a pawn in this game versus, you know, them as, you know, that being part of the seeds of hope that they can live on into a more hard. harmonious future, you know, oh, not only, you know, is my, my, my, you know, my old romance still here, you know, and she's still dedicated to me, but we have a son. And I feel like if we didn't have the son, he might not be as open to, you know, forgiving her and to moving on, you know, he comes back to so much. And again, it's, it's part of that peripheral magic of the happenstance, I feel like, but also, uh, yeah, I really liked. I thought that to like just seeing his acting range, I thought that was very appropriate the way he reacted to seeing

Starting point is 00:24:03 Guy Pearce's after he had lost his life. Like, again, this is the man that, as horrible of the character as he was, this is the man that raised him. So seeing his reaction there was totally necessary. Well, and it's that, yeah, it's not only the man who raised him. And in that moment, it's still his father, you know, and so. Well, it was the same thing. I assume you've seen Mascazoro, right?

Starting point is 00:24:24 Yeah, I don't remember almost anything about it. Yeah, yeah. We're seeing it as a kid in the police. Yeah, yeah. Well, Catherine Zeta Jones was very sad and, like, very hesitant to lose, you know, I forgot the actor's name at this moment. But the actor played Raphael in that film. He's the bad guy in Lethal Weapon 3 also. But anyway, that's the man that raised her.

Starting point is 00:24:45 It's her father, even though Antonio Banderas is her, you know, blood father. So a biological father, brother. But, yeah, no, it's understandable when someone raises you. So I get it. No, that's, but still, it's not even just about. the raising it's like to him that's just that's my dad that's my biological father that's who that that's everything that's all the dad stuff until the truth is revealed to right so it's like even if we don't have a good relationship honor dictates I must stand up for him and and then yeah the truth is revealed

Starting point is 00:25:14 but but yeah also too just the ship all the ship stuff all the nautical stuff on water all the different caves and catacombs and things all the big fancy parties and suarez like this really felt as decadent as the time period it is trying to portray. And the score. Edward Shermere, have you said, from Cruel Intentions? And knowing this is the guy who brought us some, I haven't seen Waterworld, but I know it is a, one of the famous flops, you know, this certainly spoke to, you know, a certain amount of, you know, grip and handle behind the camera.

Starting point is 00:25:50 And apparently the director, again, I haven't seen Waterworld either or Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. But apparently the director, Kevin Reynolds, learned his lesson on not letting an American actor Kevin Costner speak with an English accent. You let Jim Cavizzo speak with an accent. Yes, exactly. Except for the Spanish guys. Yeah, so that was fine. But John, you know who we missed in this film.

Starting point is 00:26:14 Yes. We should add him. Always, always always. Anyways, shall I read some trivia? Okay. Screenwriter Jay Wolpert came up with the idea not present in the novel that for now, Mondago, Kibirce, and Edmund Dantes, Jim Kavisel, started out as best friends. His logic was that it would work better as a buddy film.

Starting point is 00:26:36 Sure. That turned sinister. Wolpert believed that when a friendship soured, that hate generated was both more terrible and more believable. Sure. Yeah, I mean, I could absolutely see that. I could see the betrayal fueling the revenge most certainly. Oh, yeah. No, especially when it comes from a friend.

Starting point is 00:26:53 Like, that's way worse. And that's interesting. I wouldn't have guessed that. I wonder how readers of the book feel about that. And I also wonder what the actual story reads like, given that that's, you know, not the case. Yeah. And I'm curious if the readers, like, did they like that or nah? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:27:11 I'm sure people have opinions about it. I guess my other question then is, do the other film adaptations go about it more true to the book in that sense? Or, you know, did they also make some kind of similar adjustments? Right, right. the encounter with Napoleon on Elba is a sequence created specifically for the film since the book begins with the Farron's return to Marseilles and Edmund recounting what happened the filmmakers felt actually showing the events was more cinematically interesting than Edmund just talking about them sure I agree show don't tell sometimes is a lot yeah so um and apparently Jay Wolford has a bunch of story credits on all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies oh this Okay. So we were talking about pirates. That makes sense. And yes, we know. This came out one year before the first one. The Count of Monte Cristo was one of Mark Twain's favorite books. When Twain toured Europe in 1867, he made a special stop to see the prison. Chateau, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn contains a humorous spoof of Monte Cristo.

Starting point is 00:28:17 Oh, interesting. That's fun. I'm going to have to go back and read Huck Finn again. Yeah. The name that Luigi Vampa, J.B. Blanc, the actor, gives Edmond Dantes, Zatara, means driftwood in Burmese, the language of Myanmar. Myanmar. Yeah. Okay, cool. Oh, interesting. See, I was thinking of Zatana from D.C., but I always think of superheroes, so that makes me more dense, I guess.

Starting point is 00:28:45 All right. I'll read. One track of mine. Yes, I do. I'll read two or three more and then we'll get to one or two spoilers and then we'll call it. The location of a Chittoddyaf is actually

Starting point is 00:28:56 an old castle in Malta and is now used by the Maltese military as a communications and weather station. I believe it said they shot on location in Ireland and Mota so I wonder if that's an authentic location perhaps. Did you know that this is the 17th adaptation of this classic tale?

Starting point is 00:29:14 Ooh, I did not. So do we have 16 others we need to read? Yes, we do. this is the next react section if you want to rank all the counts of monte cristo actually would love to see that um or if you do one obviously we can't do all 17 but let us know if there's other ones you'd like us to react to that i would like to know uh i'll read two more and then one's one or two spoilers um uh guy pierce was originally offered the role of edmond dants wow i mean he's a very versatile actor i could i could see him i'd be curious to

Starting point is 00:29:46 was fantastic, but I could also see Guy Pearce doing as a great actor. Kevin Reynolds enjoyed working with Helen McCourt, McCroy, I think I'd pronounce it, right? And was disappointed about having to delete a subplot involving Valentina in order to tighten the story pacing. Oh, was she the one who was married to the prosecutor? Yeah, she's in the Harry Potter's too. Oh, is she? She's Narcissa Malfoy, I think. Oh, she passed, right?

Starting point is 00:30:16 I think she passed away. I'm not sure. All right, I'll read one more. Dagmarra Dominique, I pronounce it wrong. The actress who plays Mercedes is only seven years older than Henry Cavill, who plays her son. Oh, goodness. Geez. Well, you know, I'm sure there were a lot of young brides back in those days.

Starting point is 00:30:36 Movie magic. Oh, geez, John. Okay, I'll read one or two more. During one of the fencing scenes between Jim Cavizel and Guy Pearce, a move was performed incorrectly, and Pierce was accidentally stabbed through the skin on his side. They took him to the hospital, and after he was patched up, he was bragging about the wound proudly, while Cavizel apologized profusely the whole time. Oh, and Pierce got pierced. Hey, I see what you did there. That's good. Glad he embraced it, I suppose. Yes. Okay, I'll read one more. I just want to see

Starting point is 00:31:12 which one got more likes. Okay, I'll go with this one. In the books, Fernand is publicly humiliated by the exposure of his old crimes and he could takes his own life of Vilfort is driven insane and Dante's leaves him that way Denglars loses his wealth his wife and his daughter thanks to Dantes so I'm gathering that the book is probably more twisted and more kind of even more sort of complicated yes I would guess this is certainly of knowing that I can see this certainly as a very sort of movie way to tie that all up. We all get our main involved characters into one isolated location, and then you watch

Starting point is 00:31:53 the two brothers duke it out, or, you know, the not real brother. You get what I mean. Right. So, yeah, I have to imagine. It makes me want to go, again, I don't know what the reception of this was, both just as a movie and by people who read the original Dumas story. But it does make me want to go check that out now and see what the actual. you know content of the story is that's been adapted here um and then compare and see what got more

Starting point is 00:32:21 you know holly wooded up or not um because without that knowledge it didn't feel too much like that even though there are certain points where you're like oh yeah that's a bit of a movie moment or whatever okay so you know 73 critics 88 audience so like pretty pretty solid yeah i would i would agree with that um anyways do you have anything else you'd like to add i enjoyed this uh interesting tale of revenge punishment, however you want to say. All the above. Yes. But I loved all the performances.

Starting point is 00:32:50 I love a good time period piece. The production design, the score, just everything. The costume design, the aesthetics. The performances, just, I really, really enjoyed this film a great deal. Likewise. And also, I loved coming into it completely blind, not knowing anything. That was fun as well. Yeah, and to just go back to a period, like to watch a story of this variety.

Starting point is 00:33:13 You know what I love, John? I loved feeling and learning. Oh, of course. That was my favorite part of you. That's what dramatic. Historical, Tuesday is for. Yes, yes.

Starting point is 00:33:23 Is learning and feeling. Yes, anything else you'd like that? Oh, I think we're good, man. All right. Well, thank you guys. If you made it this far, we appreciate you so much. And we shall see you on the next one. And, uh, yep, later.

Starting point is 00:33:36 Cheers. Lex. Listen, Lex. there's anybody who I would want to have a secret son with only to turn him against my enemy That sounds like a cool movie

Starting point is 00:33:52 It would be you And you'll never guess who the secret son is Yeah, to raise is my own I'm actually fogging on the details right now even though I just watched this movie Lex but it's okay because I'll bet sent away to prison

Starting point is 00:34:06 And you'll be like oh man where's he been all these years He's dead I guess I just have to move on But then, I'm going to show up out of the past to rekindle what was lost, which you thought could never be. And then we'll have a fight. Are you making up a movie? Or is this how the movie goes?

Starting point is 00:34:23 This is vague. This is like a salad of details from this actual movie. It's pretty epic. It's pretty epic. Richard Harris is in it. Henry Cavill as like a child is in it. You know, Guy Pearce plays a real asshole. But what's greatest about this whole thing is that, you know, Jim Caviezel is,

Starting point is 00:34:41 the star. And if there's anybody who's the Jim Caviesel of our Patreon, it's probably you, Lex. That's very true. So, you know, stay holy out there because he even in this movie learns about God and then he spends time with pirates and I think

Starting point is 00:34:57 Luis Guzman is even one of the pirates or else he's a different guy, but either way, great characters all around. Like you, you're a great character all around. And if there's one thing we know in the USA, it's the characters are welcome and TNT know is drama, selects, stay dramatic, and wait for me, because I'm coming for you.

Starting point is 00:35:18 And then we'll go and we'll ride off into the sunset after I kill Guy Pearce. Wow. Cool. That's a good movie. You should watch it. Your one shoutout was the equivalent of two of my shoutouts.

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